The NEST project is divided into 10 work packages (WPs). Each group focuses on a specific problem related to healthy living in their project. Together, they help us build a strong foundation for long-term change in how we support healthy living.
International Communities of Practice (WP3-7)
We start by laying the groundwork for change in practice (WP3). We prepare our teams and communities to create new knowledge and work on solutions. We do this by working on a reference framework and offering training and support to people who lead change in their communities.
Then, we bring this preparation into action through four international Communities of Practice (iCOP), where students, researchers and local partners work together to improve healthy living. Each group focuses on one of four themes:
- How can social businesses contribute to healthier living? (WP4)
- How can we make citizens and communities active partners in research and innovation? (WP5)
- How do we learn from what’s happening and adjust when needed? (WP6)
- And how can we create and share knowledge that actually helps people? (WP7)
To kick things off, each group creates so-called landing and knowledge inventories: simple overviews of what’s already happening in their theme. These help map the current situation and form a shared starting point for learning and co-creation.
Societal Transition for Healthy Living (WP8 and 9)
While the iCOPs work on creating knowledge and solutions for real-life issues, another part of the project builds the structures to support long-term collaboration and learning across regions and disciplines.
For instance, to make collaboration easier, we are building a new structure: the Social Innovation Ecosystem for Healthy Living (SIEHL). This ecosystem offers a practical framework for working together during big societal changes. We support this ecosystem by developing:
- A clear structural framework: how to frame, organise and facilitate collaboration
- A free online course and a more in-depth on-site training
- Open access educational resources (OER) aim at both (current and future) change agents and decision makers.
To make sure this new way of working becomes part of how we learn and teach, we also connect it to education. We develop ways to connect our innovation work directly with schools and universities. We help students and educators:
- Join the Communities of Practice and bring in their own knowledge and ideas
- Take new insights home and apply them in their own courses or work
- Recognise and value the learning that happens outside traditional classrooms
To achieve this, we will develop a framework to embed SIEHL knowledge into existing educational courses, along with principles for recognising and assessing the new learning students gain through SIEHL. In addition, we will create practical tools to support educators in guiding students through this kind of hands-on, real-world learning.
Maintaining progress and sharing knowledge (WP1, 2 and 10)
None of this would be possible without a strong backbone to guide, evaluate and share our work.
We make sure that the project runs smoothly behind the scenes (WP1). That means coordinating partners, timelines, and resources across countries and organisations. We also monitor quality and keep the overall project aligned with its bigger goals.
To evaluate the overall success of the project and our impact social change within our communities, we use a hybrid evaluation approach (WP2). This helps us better understand what drives progress, where we get stuck, and how we can improve along the way.
And finally: even the best ideas can get lost if we do not share them properly. Therefore we will create plans for the dissemination, exploitation, and sustainability of the project (WP10). For instance, we organise a series of interactive multiplier workshops and a major conference to spread what we have learned.